Abstract
The article describes the research on the analysis of the economic use of mining and processing waste produced and stored on the premises of active mining plants exploiting rock raw materials in the context of the reduce-recycle-reuse (3R) concept. To assess the potential economic applications of the investigated wastes, a two-stage methodology based on a multicriteria analysis using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) algorithm was proposed. Preliminary research produced an inventory of active mining plants storing mining and processing waste on their premises (62 locations). Then, preliminary qualitative analysis was carried out to assess mining waste locations at the environmental and social level consistent with the idea of circular economy—CE (20 locations). Next, in the first stage of the multi-criteria analysis, six directions of economic use of the investigated waste were analyzed and their significance was determined. These directions are use in road and railroad construction, construction, agriculture, reclamation and development of post-mining areas, food industry, and storage at landfills of mining and processing waste on the premises of a mining plant. In the result of the assessment of potential economic applications of mining waste, recommendations for directions of economic use were obtained for the six highest classified mining waste sites. The recommendations were determined in the second stage of multi-criteria analysis by deriving the local preferences (waste sites) for the alternatives (waste uses).
Highlights
Mineral resources constitute the foundation of development of every economy in the world.the demand for them is constantly growing
Emphasis was put on the rational management of resources, which in consequence results in attempts to close the cycle of extraction and processing of raw materials into the closed circuit and, as a result, on the search for the management possibilities of mining and processing waste
We presented a methodology for the evaluation of mining waste sites with respect to preferred new uses
Summary
Mineral resources constitute the foundation of development of every economy in the world.the demand for them is constantly growing. Mineral resources constitute the foundation of development of every economy in the world. Taking into account that along with the growth of mining, the process of mineral resources treatment increases, the amount of mining and processing waste is growing. According to Eurostat, 632 million Mg of mining waste was generated in the EU countries. Poland is one of the largest producers of mining waste. 11.2% of globally produced waste is generated here [1]. Emphasis was put on the rational management of resources, which in consequence results in attempts to close the cycle of extraction and processing of raw materials into the closed circuit (circular economy) and, as a result, on the search for the management possibilities of mining and processing waste.
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